Short Interest in Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) Expands By 34.6%

Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, an increase of 34.6% from the January 31st total of 1,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 685,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at Molina Healthcare

In other Molina Healthcare news, Director Steven J. Orlando sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.33, for a total transaction of $301,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,235,608.75. This trade represents a 5.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Molina Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 2,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Molina Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,094,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 213.6% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,103,000 after acquiring an additional 21,303 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,272,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Molina Healthcare Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Molina Healthcare stock opened at $312.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.54. Molina Healthcare has a twelve month low of $262.32 and a twelve month high of $423.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $293.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $311.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $5.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.74 by ($0.69). Molina Healthcare had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 28.13%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Molina Healthcare will post 24.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MOH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on Molina Healthcare from $370.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 price target (down from $378.00) on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group cut their price target on Molina Healthcare from $374.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho cut their price target on Molina Healthcare from $382.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Molina Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.69.

Molina Healthcare Company Profile

Molina Healthcare, Inc provides managed healthcare services to low-income families and individuals under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplaces. It operates in four segments: Medicaid, Medicare, Marketplace, and Other. The company served in across 19 states. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.